Church vs. Bible #054 - Fallen from Grace

Galatians 5:4 is definitely in the running for Top 10 of cherry-picked verses out there. Anytime I have heard it used it is always out of context, much like pastor-man in the left hand side. Looking at the whole chapter, and even the whole book in context, Paul isn't talking against the Torah/God's Law/the Law in this passage. He is referring to the traditions of the Jews at the time. The same traditions that are spoken of in Mark 7 at the start of the chapter and then Yeshua goes on to speak against as well.

What really sinks in that Paul ISN'T speaking against those trying to keep the Law here is his definitions of walking by Spirit and walking by the Flesh.

Walking by the Flesh's works are all things that God has commands for in the Law to NOT do. So in other words, by walking in the Flesh you are doing exactly the opposite of what God said to do in the Law.

Walking by the Spirit leads to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and so forth. These things God encourages in the Law. Just like Leviticus 19:18 in which He commands to love your neighbor as yourself. If you study the Law, starting in Exodus 20 going through to the end of Numbers (or if you want the cliff-notes version: Deuteronomy) you will see that everything that was commanded in the Law had a purpose. That purpose came in one of two buckets: Loving God, or Loving Others. Just like Yeshua said. We have to remember, it is not our definition of "love" God will judge us on, but His definition.

http://thestraightandnarrow.cfw.me/comics/311